


Avatar: the seven travelers

by Mullk6



Series: You ain't never read a fic like this [7]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Comfort, Dimension Travel, Don’t copy to another site, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, I recycled the Ouroboros Pirates, I'm only marginally sorry, Worldbuilding, Zuko deserves a hug, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, and he gets one, but i couldn't help it, my own theories and views and filosofies on bending, quite like they did with Ace in almost every other Ouroboros fic, the Ouroboros take him in, these thoughts keep me up at night, you might find them interesting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2020-09-05 21:00:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20279737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mullk6/pseuds/Mullk6
Summary: Zuko woke up in the middle of a group of people. Unknown people. For the first time, this was not a bad thing.And it would seem water-healing was much more versatile than he had ever imagined. Or perhaps it was just this particular waterbender.After all, none of these people adhered to the established bending forms.





	1. Calmness sweeps us off our feet

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Embers](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3591783) by [Vathara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vathara/pseuds/Vathara). 

> Names  
Edwina=Win  
Alexia=Lele  
Lisa=Lin  
Jim=Jee  
Leo=Li  
Jonas=Jon  
Marcus=Maru
> 
> Ages  
Edwina 21  
Alexia 16  
Lisa 20  
Jim 24  
Jonas 29  
Leo 25  
Marcus 23
> 
> Artwork of everyone:  
[Ed](https://66.media.tumblr.com/eaf95c29182c96acbcdafeb3e4ab4caa/19a0797b3474bdc5-e7/s1280x1920/6f73c288055088e51e522b7f8f675179c75863b9.jpg)  
[Al](https://66.media.tumblr.com/6129dd5060bb79e16be2469d72ea6a15/19a0797b3474bdc5-77/s1280x1920/e8155961c42e99583561f541cd2cc0335e86a8b7.jpg)  
[Jonas](https://66.media.tumblr.com/98ed5fabb373d203ac54477241864618/19a0797b3474bdc5-f8/s1280x1920/66bca47ff99643f9a4c67add24ca21de0d6f2000.jpg)  
[Marcus and Leo](https://66.media.tumblr.com/7098ae423df46966b0061998e823d947/19a0797b3474bdc5-32/s1280x1920/33b9771c2861bd9e077b5fe7055314a5dda6f300.jpg)  
[Jim and Lisa](https://66.media.tumblr.com/0538573371440e5339af60c445eb61ac/19a0797b3474bdc5-10/s1280x1920/206cedad50200435b93a70e5b972dcf8d69efcdb.jpg)
> 
> I don't have a problem with authority. What I do have a problem with is people who assume they have authority over me just because they read one of my fics and demand/beg/order me to update. Guess what? That's the reason I don't update. As soon as someone who has read my fic, which I do for free, for no compensation, assumes they have the power to command me to do my bidding, my brain goes "Hell no. Oh, you think you can order me around, well, now I WON'T update, see how you like that!"  
It's a problem on both ends. If you don't mean to sound demanding when you ask for updates, consider maybe using more passive language. I, myself, just type out "I can't wait for what happens next!"  
No demands. No obligations. Just telling the author you liked it and would like for them to update... without sounding like a demanding ass.  
I know most people don't mean it like that. But text doesn't have tone, so that's what it comes across as.  
Also, if I haven't made an announcement about a fic, then it hasn't been abandoned. I LABLE MY ABANDONED FICS. Guess what you can't find on my AO3 account? FIcs labeled as abandoned. I just have severe writer's block because people keep demanding updates and asking whether or not I've abandoned it instead of, you know... constructive criticism or just emoji hearts. I'll take emoji hearts over those kinds of redundant comments ANY DAY. Plus they don't make me react badly unlike some comments.  
So there. Don't tell me to update. You've been told. You've been warned. Now stop it.

Zuko wakes up beside a bonfire. The flames are much too big for a normal campfire, that much he can tell. The question is...

_Who lit a bonfire next to him, and where the hell is he?_

He'd collapsed, he was ashamed to remember, after leaving the village. The fight had taken a lot out of him, and the angry and disgusted faces of Lee and the villagers-

All in all, it had taken its toll.

”I think I got it.”

Zuko almost flinches at the sound of someone talking. Now that he's paying attention, he can tell there are a few people in his vicinity. The one who spoke isn't the person nearest to him, he can tell that much, but he's not really sure where the man in question actually is.

”Alright, from the top then?”

The person closest to him is female. And she's running hotter than an Earth Kingdom native should. That was as far as Zuko's thoughts went before he started tryign to decipher the sounds springing up around him, before belatedly realizing that it was music. A [ruan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruan) and a [huqin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huqin), at the very least, were being played. He was just glad no one seemed to have a tsungi horn.

He hoped...

His thoughts were cut short once again as someone a bit further away, the other side of the bonfire, he realized, started softly singing.

”[In the span of time we live out our lives](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfqR0WJZGP4)  
Calmness sweeps us off our feet  
In the end, we're left with memories kept  
Locked away, as they spiral down and fade away from thee...”

He could barely hear the song over the crackling of the fire, but somehow, he did, and felt calm. It was strange. When was the last time he'd felt calm?

”As for me, I'll sing the song of now  
For that's all that I can do  
Though my memories escape me  
They're a part of my heart, just as I have thought of you”

Three, perhaps four, Zuko wasn't sure, voices joined in to sing the next part of the... he wanted to say lullaby, but he wasn't sure.

”al a re laye  
al a re layo  
al a re laya  
al a reya

al a re laye  
al a re layo  
al a re laya  
al a reya...”

The verses repeated after that and the exiled prince absently noticed the bonfire had shrunk and become less erratic.

”Can't I just play the tsungi horn?”

Zuko fought not to flinch when the fire suddenly crackled violently, making him wonder if his control was truly that bad and hoping to the spirits no one had noticed.

”_No one_ is playing the goddamn _tsungi horn._” the woman closest to him said in such a cold voice the firebender had to fight the shivers threatening to overtake him.

So he wasn't the only one to hate the instrument. Good to know.

He still had no idea who the hell these people were, though.

”Dude, you know she hates the glorified trumpet. Just stick to your two-string violin and suck it up.”

...Zuko had to wonder what the hell that sentence even was. Because he couldn't make heads or tails of it.

”Oh for god's sake you two, shut up. Hey, sis, how's his temperature?” the singer cut in.

The woman beside him shifted ”Hold that thought.” before bending over him-

Zuko had no idea how he kept himself from reacting when a forehead pressed itself against his, but somehow, he did. She soon removed herself from his person, but the sensation had already sent his mind reeling, because...

”He matches my temp, now, so I think he doesn't need to be right next to the fire anymore.”

Because this woman, in the middle of the Earth Kingdom, was running at a firebender temperature.  
”I still don't understand how the _hell_ you can _tell_ that stuff.” the man who'd called the Tsungi horn a... 'glorified trumpet' said, sounding baffled.

“I'm just glad she can, otherwise the kid would have been slowly freezing and we wouldn't have ever known. Firebenders run hot, but that means that when they get cold, they _get cold_.”

“Yeah, yeah, Dr. Waterbender.”

“Stop calling me that!”

“If you two don't _shut up_, I'll bend you into a hole and _leave you there_.” the singer cut in, sounding much like the... the probably a firebender... who was also the singer's sister? An earthbender?

And wasn't that a strange thought. A troupe with at least three benders, each of different elements, all together peacefully. Or, somewhat peacefully.

And they knew he was one too.

Though he did wonder how two sisters were benders of differing elements. Just what had their family looked like?

…

Broken, probably.

Wasn't that a familiar thought.

Had his eyes been open, Zuko would have stopped and blinked in confusion. Because he suddenly realized his thought process was much, much different. It wasn't just the effect of being alone, it was as if things were clearer... it was... odd.

He realized that he was thinking objectively for a much longer time than he'd been able to do after his banishment. Many of his decisions had been objective, but those had been only that. Decisions. Not trains of thought.

“Do you think he'll be ok now?”

He was once again cut off from his thoughts by a voice, but this one was new.

The waterbender sighed “I don't know. I'm not exactly trained in this- this spiritual chi nonsense, but I think I managed to heal the spiritual, or maybe mental, mess I could feel on him. This waterbending stuff is surprisingly useful.”

“I was more surprised that apparently holy water and spirit water are fundamentally the same. Which is neat since we know how to create the stuff.”

“And mom always said my obscure occult knowledge would be useless in real life.”

There was a round of laughter at that. Which caused him to twitch. Zuko then wanted to bash his head against the ground. Really? _Laughter_ was what would give him away? Oh well, might as well 'wake up' and meet his benefactors.


	2. Rest now, my warrior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some background stuff and Zuko wakes up for real.  
Really short.

They found themselves in an Earth Kingdom port town, that day. She'd been thirteen years old and she'd admit she had cried. If she had been alone, she would not have been able to handle the displacement. But she hadn't been alone. She'd had her sister and five others whom they had met a year or so ago at an anime convention. They had all been fans of Fullmetal Alchemist, the original manga and Brotherhood alike, so there was more common ground than if some had seen the first anime only.

It hadn't taken long to figure out where they were. The first problem had been what names to call themselves, since western names would have stood out very much. Sure, there was at least one Canon character named Hope, but she was the exception, not the rule. Then they had to figure out how they could possibly manage to survive the world, before coming up with the idea of forming a traveling theater and entertainment troupe. It's not like they'd stand out that way, at least not in a way that was bad. Original ideas weren't that strange to have. Though the instruments had been a different matter altogether.

The next hurdle... had been the bending. Oh, the bending. It had taken much, much training and information gathering, but they had managed to get a handle on that within the first year and a half.

Not that their bending was by any means conventional. It wasn't like they had formal training in any of the relevant martial arts. Or supernatural powers in general. But they made it work.

Sometimes better than what normal benders could accomplish, as evidenced by Leo's, or Li's, as they called him now, ability to heal mental wounds with his waterbending. It worked better with Holy Water. That had been a weird thing to even attempt, but it had worked. She guessed the prayer caused the water to accumulate spiritual energy, thus becoming Spirit water. It was just a theory though.

And then they'd found out when they were. They'd been in a port town, which was how the rumor had come so fast. The Fire Lord had banished his son. That had been three years ago, now. Give or take a little time. They had also started hearing things about the Avatar, so they knew thereabouts when they were. The only question was... what to do about it? This wasn't an anime where they could become superhuman. Cartoons didn't share that many over-arching tropes and rules. And being in The Last Airbender? Well... there wasn't much they could do, really.

But then... they'd come across a passed out firebender with a scar covering his left eye. An angry red against such pale flesh.

And suddenly, they had a purpose beyond lifting morale and earning coin.

Operation healing the precious turtleduck was a go.

Alexia was just glad there were no Zuko haters among them, or this could have gone really badly.

Zuko opened his eyes to the sight of the early evening sky, the sun setting in the distance. Just his luck to have slept the day away only to soon have to go to sleep again or face exhaustion the next day. Then again, he felt tired enough that he'd probably manage to sleep the entire night if he didn't have nightmares.

“Hey, kid.”

Zuko turned his eyes to the person closest to him. Looking at her, knowing what he did, he could see her mixed blood. She was pale, with golden eyes of the Fire Nation, of a firebender, not truly fitting in with her brown hair. Overall, she looked... surprisingly like his uncle.

“You ok?” she asked with a soul-searching gaze. Zuko had a feeling that she'd know if he lied.

“Could be worse.” he answered, voice hoarse, before pausing, wondering if he should mention his mental discovery “Thinking's clearer. Which is weird. I didn't know it wasn't clear before.”

The woman laughed “Yeah, you never do until it's different once again. Thankfully we have an excellent, if not traditional waterbending healer. Can't really be traditional when you have to learn everything on your own.”

A redheaded man with glasses snorted “Not completely on my own, Win.”

So that was the waterbender. He looked nothing like the two traveling with the Avatar.

The firebender, Win, shrugged “Well, with four benders and no teachers, collaboration and brainstorming was kind of vital. Was _not_ gonna go to the North Pole for the sake of one person, no offense.”

“Not like I actually wanted to go. I hate the cold.”

Truly different from the two traveling with the Avatar. Wait, four benders? And still no mention of the other elements- ah.

They were under the impression that he didn't know one of them was a firebender. Thus, they would assume he wouldn't talk about his own status either. Probably assumed much from his scar.

… Zuko had no intention to correct them. Though he did wonder just what their respective bending styles looked like, if they'd truly had no formal training.

He'd just have to wait and see, he supposed.


	3. Count your blessings not your flaws

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko gets a few reality checks and may be victim to some minor, but well-meant, manipulation a la the Ouroboros. No one can prove that their theory isn't correct. And even if Zuko's sister ever does find out and tries to disprove it, well...  
Azula always lies.
> 
> (Also contains my personal headcanons for firebending.)

Zuko wasn't sure why he hadn't left immediately after feeling strong enough. Part of it was the fact that the ostrich-horse had bolted when he fell off of it, but part of it was... well, the company he now found himself in. Win and Lele had a sibling relationship Zuko was truly envious of, but also very, very happy to see. The elder's talent with fire had not set them apart in this world where, by all intents and purposes, it should have. But perhaps... perhaps that was why they were here, surrounded by others in just as difficult of positions. Li had obviously been born outside the Water Tribes, Lin was obviously Spirit Touched in some way, with hair like that, Jee looked Fire Nation but with Water Tribe eyes, Maru looked Earth Nation with Fire Nation eyes and Jon...

Jon was an airbender. He had the build of an earthbender, but his element was the opposite. Zuko wasn't sure how to feel about that.

He knew even less about how to feel about the fact that Win and Jon often trained their bending together. And the attacks they created together were devastating. It made him feel sick and in awe at the same time, how his nation had wiped out the people whose bending complemented their own so well. They could have been powerful together, but instead...

Sozin had destroyed an entire sect of benders... just to get rid of one person. One, young person.

A child.

It had been a lot to swallow.

Lele had made him see. They'd been traveling together a few days and were passing through some town that had obviously suffered from the war. Someone had evidently started talking about the rumors of the Avatar having returned. Zuko had heard it because he was used to chasing any and all hints of rumors about the damn kid.

Lele had reacted... strongly. The others had noticed immediately and hurried up their business. Once they were far enough, the earthbender had erupted in a way much reminiscent of a firebender.

“The _Avatar_ this and the _Avatar_ that! Solve your own goddamn problems! Nothing's fucking changed! What does it matter if the Avatar is suddenly back if _no one does anything because of it_!?”

Zuko's eyes widened as he stared at her, glancing around “Uh,”

He wasn't entirely sure what he was going to say, since the brunette whirled around and cut him off, though he did wonder if she'd even heard him, and screeched “_The Avatar is twelve years old!_”

Everything stopped, in that moment. Those words hooked themselves into Zuko's mind as he finally thought about what it actually meant.

“Mothers cry every day as their sons are sent to fight, they want their children to come home, and those boys are around seventeen at the youngest anyway! But now, suddenly, age doesn't matter because _he's the Avatar_! Where's their morality now?! Why is it alright for _this_ child to be sent to the front, but _not their almost adult children_!? Huh?! _WHERE'S THE HONOR IN THAT?!_”

“There is none.”

They'd all turned to Li, as those words left his lips, unbidden. There was the sound of rushing water in Zuko's ears as he realized the truth.

“There's no honor in war... on either side. Not anymore.”

What an amazing lie that had been...

He wanted his uncle.

That isn't to say that he wanted to leave. Win had finally revealed her firebending status to him. Sure, he'd already known, but his look of shock at her bending had not been fake, though it had been interpreted wrongly. Her form was... unlike anything he'd seen before. But it worked. Perhaps better than some of the traditional forms he'd seen Azula use. _Azula_. No one was better than Azula.

Or so he'd thought. And the way she described her, _their_, element...

He felt as if he was listening to Uncle... only, Win's explanation struck a chord unlike anything else had. It fit. So well.

She'd moved some fire away from the bonfire in the middle of camp, the movement fluid and reminiscent of water more than the raging blasts he was more associated with. Then she had started _moulding it_. And then she spoke as she idly moved her hands, a dragon made of fire following the movements.

“Fire is passion. The flame is only as powerful as it's fuel. Our emotions, our will, our determination is that fuel. The stronger the fuel, the stronger the flame. Not all fires can be extinguished by water or sand. It all depends on exactly what is burning. If your fuel is strong enough, then you're unbeatable.”

She'd spun around, the fire following before forming wings behind her, hovering but burning nothing. 

Zuko had never seen anything like it. Not even Uncle had that kind of control.

“But beware exactly what and how much of it you burn. Rage is impotent, it gives strong flames but goes out much too easily, and after you've used it up, then what? You're helpless and without light. Find your fuel, and _let it burn_.”

He had never been a good student. Yet, somehow, under Win's tutelage, he learned more about his, their, element than he had learned under his tutors or even Uncle.

And then he'd found out Win could bend lightning. With a much higher accuracy and output that what he'd seen from Azula.

He still didn't know what to think of her explanation of _that_.

“Lighting is generated in clouds from hot and cold air rubbing against each other and causing friction. This holds true within firebenders also. The benders positive and negative energies rub against each other, neither overtaking the other. This sort of balance is impossible to maintain constantly, but doing it on command isn't easy for everyone. It's especially difficult for a normal teenager who's still largely controlled by hormones and volatile emotions. It's never a good sign if one can bend lighting during puberty, I've found.”

What did that say about Azula then?

Win's artistic talent with fire aside, which was probably more a product of their forming of an entertainment troupe than anything else, but still very impressive, Zuko found himself enjoying the music they had to offer. It was very different from the music nights on the ship. For one, there was no tsungi horn. Thank the Spirits. And secondly... the songs they sung spoke to him on a deep emotional level. Most of them, not all. But it's not like they could have deliberately picked them to cater to him. Other songs didn't really speak to him, they were just _really_ good.

He'd... cried, more than once, when they'd sung. He never explained his reaction, nor did they question it beyond sending him worried glances, depending on the severity of his reaction. Those songs weren't sung twice, if his reaction was bad enough and Zuko wasn't sure if he wanted to hear them again. It hadn't even been that bad at first. He'd liked “[Feed the Flames](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utC9jmjp6gg)” since it was about fire in a way that painted it differently than the general consensus of the element. “[Through Heaven's Eyes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG0a9WFkgzU)” had sounded like his Uncle had been speaking to him and made him think about his place in the world.

But then...

“[King](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS5GfL9F7L4)”

It had... been an event.

“You're alone, you're on your own, so what?  
Have you gone blind?  
Have you forgotten what you have and what is yours?  
Glass half empty, glass half full  
Well either way you won't be going thirsty  
Count your blessings not your flaws”

He could not explain how deeply the words had cut into him.

“You've got it all  
You lost your mind in the sound  
There's so much more  
You can reclaim your crown  
You're in control  
Rid of the monsters inside your head  
Put all your faults to bed  
You can be king again

You don't get what all this is about  
You're too wrapped up in your self doubt  
You've got that young blood, set it free”

He had cried. Hard. It had sounded too much like his mother's last words to him. He couldn't- they hadn't finished the song. He'd cried too much for them to be able to leave him be.

He'd never felt this cared for... not since mother. Uncle had tried, of course, but-

Zuko hadn't really let him.

Had he really been that damaged?

But even his reactions to some of the songs had nothing on his reaction to what the group had to say about his fath- the Fire Lord. Thankfully, he'd managed to keep it together until he was out of sight of the group.

It had been Jee who had started that little train of thought. He'd been sitting on a boulder near the fire before suddenly leaning too much in the wrong direction, with a shocked look on his face. Apparently, this was out of character enough that every person in the group looked at him with worry.

Jee had clambered back upright, looking at them all as he spoke “You know how Prince Zuko's banishment was set to end once he returned with the Avatar?”

Zuko had fought to hold himself still at that, wishing with all his might that this would end well for him and not with them realizing who he was.

“Yeah?” Lin had prompted, obviously wondering where this was going.

The swordsman continued “And you know how there hadn't been even _rumors_ at that point, and wouldn't be for the next three years?”

Jon was the one to prompt him “Yeah?”

“And how, as soon as the Avatar reappeared, the Fire Nation sent that- Zano- Zaho- what's-his-face who wanted to kill the... the... Ocean Spirit?” Jee fumbled, obviously not being sure of what he remembered, which was good because he got neither the name nor the motive right.

Zuko found it funny that for all of Zhao's ambition, some didn't even remember anything about him.

Lele shrugged dubiously “Close enough. Your point.”

Jee pointed upwards as he got to said point “If I remember correctly, during that... honourless excuse of an Agni Kai-”

Wait, what?

“Where the ruler of the Fire Nation, a master bender in his own right, saw it fit to do battle against _a thirteen year old_ for the crime of _speaking out of turn_. The Prince didn't fight and instead got on his knees and begged.”

There was a brief silence before Maru spoke “Yeah, that's literally what happened, we've told you this before.” the man responsible for keeping them all fed said.

Jee looked at him in irritation “Well sorry for not having the sources you guys had to getting information from beyond the Earth Kingdom.” he grouched, before taking a deep breath “My point is, Prince Zuko was on his knees, vulnerable, in no position to defend _or_ attack... _so why didn't the Fire Lord kill him_?”

Silence. Utter, shocked, silence.

_That was a very good question._

Lele was the one to speak next, sounding off-kilter “How did I not realize that? It's so obvious. What the actual fuck?”

They all turned to her, wanting to know what it was that she'd realized. She took notice, and started to try and explain “Well, see, there've been rumors about the Royal Family for... a while. It's... really no secret that Prince Zuko was less favoured than his sister. The Agni Kai would have been the _perfect_ opportunity to get rid of him... had he not knelt and begged. Fire Nation is _all_ about honor. And there's no honor in attacking a surrendered opponent in front of _basically all your subjects_. Prince Zuko lived because the Fire Lord had to hold on to his frankly questionable honor or lose a big chunk of his subjects to such an act. And when he couldn't kill him-”

“He banished him.” Win continued, covering her eyes with a hand as the realization struck her too “He banished him with a condition that was never supposed to be met. And then when he actually had a chance to come home...”

“The Fire Lord sent Zhao to take that from him, too.” Li finished grimly.

There were no songs that night. And Zuko reeled from the theory the group had concocted. Perhaps he could have brushed off such outrageous claims as he was before, but now... now, they rang true.

And Zuko cried himself to sleep that night.

He wanted his uncle.


	4. The chase starts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko becomes ill. He gets better though.  
Leo discovers he can stimulate hair growth, would probably be useful if they needed to disguise themselves.  
Then they run across loose bison fur. It goes downhill from there.

Zuko had a fever. Al wasn't proud to admit she had panicked when the Prince had collapsed, until she realized that it might just be the same thing that happened to him after Lake Laogai in the series. Then she only became mildly worried, since she hadn't thought they could actually cause that to happen so early. Leo was put in charge of Zuko and they debated whether they should stay in one place or keep moving. They ended up loading Zuko in one of the wagons after shifting some of the stuff around so that he'd fit comfortably, with Leo half-driving-half-keeping an eye on him. Leo, being a very thorough physician, could often be found performing technique with his water that he called scanning. He could find affected areas, physically or spiritually, through that. He'd been focusing the technique on Zuko's head, which had led to an interesting discovery. 

Three days in, Leo had popped out of the wagon after a session and said “Uh, it appears I can affect hair growth...”

True enough, Zuko's hair had grown. It wasn't as long as it had been in book three, but it was getting there. It was perhaps a good thing they hadn't hit any town in a while. Which was a little suspicious, but ever since they'd gotten to this world, Liz had gotten strange feelings which if not followed tended to mean bad things, so they were going in this particular direction because of that. Thankfully they had experience in preserving food and kept hoarding said preserved food, so they wouldn't go hungry any time soon. The joys of being born in a country with long-ass winters. Drying, salting, pickling and jam-ing were old hat to them at this point. Not all of them had known all of the above, but enough of them had known about enough of them that they could survive. It also helped that they had a fully functioning icebox thanks to their resident waterbender. So food wasn't a real issue, nor was water just yet. If they were to venture to where there was less moisture in the air, however, then they may run into some problems. But that wasn't an issue right now.

Zuko kept swimming in and out of consciousness. Often enough his surroundings were vibrating, telling him that he was in one of the wagons. The cooling touch of water made it clear that Li was taking care of him, though he had no idea what was wrong with him this time.

Once he woke up with enough lucidity to take in more of his surroundings, they had already set up camp for the night, and Li wasn't the one in his vicinity “Win?”

His voice was hoarse, but audible enough for the woman to hear, since it caused her to turn to him “Hey, kid. You've been pretty out of it.”

“What's happening to me?”

She shushed him gently and Zuko saw the image of his mother overlapping with hers for a moment, dispelling as soon as she spoke “It's not something I've personally experienced, but apparently firebenders have this thing where their inner fire can make them sick if their loyalities shift violently. Your honor has taken offense to being abused by that which you were honor-bound to, before. It's a risk all firebenders face if they have an identity crisis.” the woman paused, before chuckling “Of course, it requires one to actually _have_ honor.”

Zuko was reeling even as he was helped upright to drink the water presented to him so that he would die of dehydration, what with all the sweating he had to be doing. His honor. The thing he'd been desperate to regain for _three years_. He... hadn't lost it? At least, if Win was to be believed.

She hadn't lied to him yet...

Even in his weakened, confused state, Zuko put his trust in this band of misfit entertainers. He didn't know exactly when he'd started trusting them, but he had. And so, as he went under again, he didn't fight the pull.

After his moment of lucidity, Zuko's temperature dropped rapidly to an acceptable level. Unfortunately though, they had found something else to worry about. Tracks made by treads. There weren't may things in this world that those, or were moving alone. Adding some pure white fur scattered all around and the lizard footprints, well...

They had more stuff to worry about. Though they did wonder if Zuko would notice once he woke up. They hadn't really been following the tracks, it was just that once their paths intersected, they realized the scenery looked really dry, meaning they were probably closer than they'd have liked and close enough to go where the action was. Because Alexia was certain Zuko's ingrained instincts would cause him to bolt, even though the others weren't as convinced.

Zuko woke up only slightly disoriented, but feeling better overall. It wasn't until he was halfway through his breakfast that he noticed the oddity that was obviously bugging everyone else.

“Ok, seriously, this friggin' fur is blowing everywhere! I hate spring, everything starts shedding!”

Said fur was white, but the prints on the ground did not belong to the animal that had shed it, that much the firebender knew.

“I'm more worried about the tank. I mean, I'm pretty sure we weren't going in the same direction, but who the hell uses a tank as transportation? Because a battalion it was not, with only one set of tracks...” Lin muttered, picking at her own porridge.

Grabbing a tuft of fur, ignoring his the rest of his meal, Zuko's mind reeled. Azula was in the Earth Kingdom. Only the Fire Nation had tanks. The white fur clearly belonged to the Avatar's bison. Those tracks were definitely from mongoose lizards, a Fire Nation native species. Azula was after the Avatar.

Zuko refused to let her have him.

Standing up, leaving his bowl on the ground, Zuko went to gather what he needed, burning with determination.

“Kid? Oy, Li, your patient is escaping.” Jee called from where he was tending to the ostrich-horses.

The waterbender jerked from his own mostly finished food “What? Sit your ass back down and eat your food, mister!”

Zuko ignored him and pulled his dual swords from the wagon before heading straight for the ostrich-horses while attaching them to his hip. Taking the reins of the one furthest from the people who'd been taking care of him for weeks now, he cast a look over his shoulder, feeling more than a tinge of guilt.

“Sorry.”

Without further ado, he hopped on the back of the animal and took off in the direction of the Avatar and his sister.

“Kid!”

He wasn't sure who called after him, but he ignored it and tried not to think about what he'd just done, only what he'd be doing next.


	5. The chase ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko vs Azula, fight!  
Or, that was what Zuko expected. He didn't expect to be followed.  
In hindsight, that was a foolish assumption.

The camp was barely restrained chaos as Alexia raised earth walls to create a makeshift pen with a shaded area and a waterhole, just in case. The water being provided by Leo, who'd extracted it from the air and melted some of their iceblocks.

Jonas fetched his staff, asking “Should I scout?” while flicking it open, revealing a glider that was capable of holding his weight in the air. He wasn't exactly built for his element, but he could compensate.

Edwina shook her head “No, we can't risk someone spotting you, you know there is only one airbender alive.”

Jonas closed the glider “So I guess we're hiding my bending once we get there?”

“Not just yours.” Leo called, even though he was already arming himself the way only a waterbender could. Well, they were all arming themselves with water for him to use, just in case.

Ed chuckled “Yeah... not just yours.”

The earth beneath them rumbled, before rising in a somewhat uniform slab, shooting towards the direction Zuko had taken off in. It was a testament to the amount of time they had spent practicing this manoeuvre that no one fell off. They did stumble a little, but that was to be expected.

“Remember!” Alexia called over the wind, eyes closed in concentration, letting her sister guide her if she went off course “No lying unless you can do it without your body betraying you! Toph can tell!”

“Roger!” all six called, Ed holding on to her shoulder and being her eyes at the moment.

They had no idea what Zuko would choose to do once he got to his destination. He had turned his back on his destiny in the show after his personality fever, so odds were in favour of it happening now, too. Of course, this time there would be no Azula trying to get him on her side. Probably. So it could go either way.

Zuko rode up to the town, aiming to emerge at the center from the side, which would most likely put him between Azula and the Avatar. There were no signs of a fight yet, so the two had to have just laid eyes on each other.

“Do you really want to fight me?” he heard over the sound of the ostrich-horse's running, causing him to dismount and let the animal run without him. He wasn't sure where it would go, but hopefully it wouldn't get hurt.

“Yes, I really do.” he answered his sister, though he knew she'd been addressing the 12-year-old to his left.

Said child was surprised to see him, if his exclamation was anything to go by “Zuko!”

Any surprise his sister might have felt was nowhere to be hear in her smug tone of voice “I was wondering when you'd show up, Zuzu.”

“Zuzu?” the Avatar snorted, obviously amused by the mocking childhood nickname.

The firebender grabbed his dao and separated them, entering a defensive stance between the two, angled more towards Azula than the Avatar “Back off, Azula.”

Azula snorted, entering a bending stance, ready to attack at any second “Oh really? Who's gonna make me? You?”

Zuko narrowed his eyes in anger “I'm _done_ losing to you.”

Before anyone could react, a green blur ran past him in the direction the ostrich-horse had run, whistling what had to be a call for said animal. Seconds later, there was the sound of someone landing on the roof of the building behind him on the right.

“Good job, Lin!” the familiar voice of Win called, causing Zuko to glance up while still keeping an eye on his sister, the younger sibling doing the same. Aang, however, turned his head completely, his sleep-deprived brain not realizing that it was a stupid decision.

Win turned her attention to Zuko, even as more of the group made it onto the roof by what sounded like Lele launching them up there “And you!” she exclaimed, pointing at Zuko “Get your butt back to camp and eat your breakfast, young man! Li is _pissed_ at you! Don't you know not to anger the healer?”

At that point, Lele stuck her head around the corner of the building opposite to Zuko, which made him wonder how she'd manged to aim from there if she couldn't even see who she was launching. Or exactly when she'd circled the entire town to emerge from the opposite side. 

Said earthbender took one look at Azula and paled, before screeching “WHY IS THE MURDER PRINCESS HERE?!”

… that was a new one.

Zuko couldn't disagree, though.

Azula didn't look amused by the epithet “My, what interesting company you keep, dear brother.”

Win, Lele, Jee and Maru froze at that and Zuko felt his stomach plummet. This was it.

“Did she just-?”

This was the limit. 

“Did she call him-?”

This was when they would turn on him. Just because he was-

“Her _brother_?”

Azula of course capitalized on the confusion “Oh, did little Zuzu not tell you?”

“Zuzu.” Maru deadpanned, slowly raising his hand to his face.

Win's face was unreadable as she stood up from her crouch, looking down with cold eyes. And Zuko knew it didn't mean anything good.

The elder firebender took a deep breath, closing her eyes, before snapping them open and singing “[Are you the prey? No, we are the hunters!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-IzvO-F5QA)”

As one, the three on the roof jumped down, Lele running forward and Li and Jon appearing from somewhere. But instead of targeting him, like Zuko had feared, they all headed for Azula. Earth rose in chunks all around her before shooting forward. She avoided them, of course. It was Azula. Though she did look taken aback by the fact that her ploy hadn't worked. Zuko was shocked, too. Azula's ploys always worked. That was why-

That was why mother was gone.

With that thought at the forefront of his mind, Zuko surged forward and attacked, using his blades and bending together, fighting on his terms, for once. He wasn't landing a single hit, but he was forcing her to dodge. And that was already a big difference.

Of course, Azula was nothing if not wily and soon got away enough to attack the Airbender, who'd been on the sidelines up until then, blinking owlishly. The boy only just managed to avoid being burnt, opting for flight instead of fight, as was the airbender way.

Suffice to say, a few of the houses got destroyed due to his dodging.

The banished Prince noticed belatedly that the troupe, the six that were present anyway, were moving in synchronization, reminiscent of when they'd rehearse their dance numbers. He then realized that the only element being bent, visually, was earth.

And it was impossible to tell who was or wasn't doing it.

It was a brilliant strategy, Zuko thought. Azula would never realize that the six weren't all earthbenders. She'd probably never realize there were benders of the other elements in the troupe and there was no way she'd ever think that _a single person was doing all the bending_. Her ego wouldn't allow it.

He wondered just how much Lele had had to practice this to pull it off so flawlessly. Or at least convincingly enough to not be noticed during a battle.

Li's movements were too smooth for him to be an earthbender, Win having less of a problem with the same thing, while Jon just looked plain uncomfortable as he tried to do the motions convincingly. The non-benders were _much_ more convincing in their movements, the prince noticed.

Azula was furious. She was losing _to her brother_! Her _brother_, who had never been as good as her at bending! And he wasn't even using traditional bending! He was using _swords_! It made her _furious_. Not to mention the six Earth Kingdom peasants that were fighting on his side! Nothing was going the way she wanted! She had just about had enough when the Avatar's little posse turned up along with her traitorous uncle.

Driven into a corner like this, it made her blood boil.

But she showed none of her rage outwardly as she spoke “Well, look at this. Enemies and traitors, all working together.”

One of the eartbenders snorted at her “Oh, nooo, such _cutting_ words, how_ever _will we _recover_.” the brown-haired man drawled.

Zuko snorted.

Azula bristled, but let the words roll over her, refusing to let them see her ruffled “I'm done,” she lied, raising her hands “I know when I'm beaten. You got me. A princess surrenders with honor.”

There was a tense silence where no one moved.

Then, she struck.

“_UNCLE!_”


	6. Imperfectly conceived by voices less careful than you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko is so glad he has allies and Team Avatar is left stumped at these strange, strange people. No one has told Aang so vehemently that he's _only a child_.

It was a reflex to attack her with all he had, but he knew even before the dust cleared that she'd gotten away. Not that he waited for the dust to clear. The young firebender lunged to his uncle, who had a serious wound on his chest.

Because of _her_.

Zuko knelt beside his uncle, his hands hovering uncertainly, not knowing what to do. Fire couldn't heal. Dark spots formed on the green robe and the banished Prince realized that he was crying. He was also shaking, much to his embarrassment.

_And he'd only just gotten him back-_

There were footsteps behind him, but Zuko could barely make himself speak around the lump in his throat even as he looked behind him to see the Avatar and his friends “Go away.” he tried to yell, but it came out as barely a whisper.

The Water Tribe girl stepped forward “Zuko I can heal him.”

He didn't _want_ her to heal him. He didn't _trust her_. Even if she was a waterbender-

Waterbender.

Waterbenders could heal.

Li was a-

Zuko whipped his head around, searching for the red-haired man, only to find him hurrying over with a waterskin, already uncapping it “Move the robe and let me see it!”

Zuko moved without thinking and starter to peel off the worn Earth Kingdom clothing, wincing at the way it stuck to the burn and at the sight of said burn. He then had to scramble back as the earth under his uncle moved upwards to form a makeshift table so that Li didn't have to kneel on the ground as he coated his hands and laid them on the wound.

“Wait, I thought you were an earthbender!” the Avatar exclaimed, looking like the world didn't make sense.

Li didn't answer, focusing entirely on healing, but Lele did, sounding all too smug about it “Good, that means the murder princess does, too.”

Zuko stood up shakily, flinching when he felt a hand on his shoulder “It's ok, kid. Li's really good at healing burns. He's had a lot of practice.”

The ravenette looked at his fellow element and swallowed. Of course Li would have had practice. Win had had no one to teach her, there were bound to have been injuries. Realizing that, he nodded, but didn't speak.

Win let him stay silent and instead gathered him up in her arms, just as she'd done when he'd last cried. The way he'd seen her do for Lele.

Honestly, what had he been thinking, assuming they'd just let him go? Though, he was a little shocked they hadn't turned on him for lying to them. 

Then again, these were also the weirdos who'd had a vigil in his honor and toasted “To Prince Zuko.” while raising their cups to the sky.

He'd had to do it too, if only to make them stop looking at him.

It had been weird.

Now it was going to be awkward.

“So, is everyone else in your group an earthbender then?”

The Avatar really didn't know how to read the mood.

Win let go of him, making him already miss the warmth “Don't be silly, we only have one bender per element.” she chided them, crossing her arms.

The other Water Tribe peasant looked incensed and exited at the same time “You only have two benders?!”

Win sounded amused as she dryly answered “That was not what I said.” before moving in a familiar pattern, bringing her hands up in a sweeping motion to take hold of as many flames as she could in time with her inhale, before pushing down, extinguishing them in time with her exhale.

Even with him having witnessed her bending before, it was truly amazing just how much of the burning town she was able to extinguish in one go. By the looks of it, she'd only have to do it twice more to put it all out.

“You're _Fire Nation!?_” the Water Tripe boy screeched accusingly.

Win just huffed, crossing her arms once more “How rude, my sister and I have never even set _foot_ in the Fire Nation.”

The earthbender girl cocked her head “She's not lying.”

“_What?_” the Water Tribe peasant screeched.

Lele took that moment to speak up from where she was hopping on one foot while putting her shoes back on “Hey, sis, I think Lin is coming back with Fluffy.”

“Kthanks.” Win answered without looking at her.

The peasant started screeching unintelligibly while his sister and the Avatar looked stunned. The earthbender just cocked her head “Who's Fluffy?”

“One of our ostrich-horses.” Maru spoke around his toothpick.

If anyone noticed Zuko flinching then they brought no attention to it, making the teen feel even worse. Jon patting him on the head didn't help at all with his guilt.

That was when Lin galloped into the town with her hair in disarray and a big grin on her face “You missed a few spots.” she quipped at Win, indicating the rest of the flaming buildings.

Win rolled her eyes “Yeah, yeah, hey, Zuko, I'll take the ones on the left you take the ones on the right.” the older firebender said, waving her hand in the direction assigned to him while brushing past the Avatar and his group to tend to her own assigned area.

Zuko took a glance at his uncle and Li, before steeling himself and doing as asked. He'd been practicing with the campfire under Win's tutelage. This was just a bit bigger. A bit lot bigger. But he could manage. He hoped...

It took him longer to put out the fires than it took Win to do the same, but Zuko had expected that. It would also seem it had taken approximately that long for the troupe to realize that they were in the presence of the Avatar.

Right. With Jon being what he was, they _wouldn't_ be as shocked by the younger airbender as others would be.

Which would explain why Win was yelling at the moment, what with the outburst he'd witnessed previously by her sister on the subject “I don't _care_ that you're the Avatar, _you are a child_! And no child is going to sleep unprotected, especially while _this_ sleep-deprived! What kind of person do you take me for?!”

“Uh, Fire Nation?” the Water Tribe peasant piped up, apparently having still not let it go.

“You shut your mouth, ponytail-pup!” Win scolded, pointing at the sputtering teen.

“It's a warrior's wolf-tail!”

“Sure, keep telling yourself that.” Lin drawled, still on top of Fluffy, arms resting across the animal's back, her elbows on her knees. She glanced his way, lips quirking in a smile “So... Zuko, huh?”

The Fire Nation Prince could do nothing except awkwardly scratch his neck and look away.

Jon smiled at him as he once again patted him on the head “Hey, don't worry about it, kid. It's not like we asked for your name, so you didn't lie to us.”

How had he known that was what Zuko had been thinking about?

Lele started waving her arms in a way that probably meant something to the others, since they all moved closer together around Li and his uncle, whose colour had improved, at least.

Win abandoned her job of yelling at the Avatar and his posse “Alright, all aboard Lele express,” she shot Zuko a scolding look “You too, little turtleduck,” she then turned, not seeing Zuko's blush at the endearment “You kids better follow right behind us, you hear?”

The Avatar seemed to be cowed enough to follow the bossy woman's demands, even though the Water Tribe peasants seemed to disagree. The new addition was looking in his uncle's direction and not offering any input. He didn't much care what they would do, _he_ was going with his uncle. Which was why he huddled closer and placed Win between him and the Avatar.

Lin straightened up and took the reins once more “Right, no way Fluffy will stay on the platform, so I'll go ahead.” she said, before coaxing the ostrich-horse to take off.

Lele grinned from her place in the middle, taking a bending stance “See ya!” she called after her, before stomping, making slicing motions and raising a slab of earth off the ground while closing her eyes.

Zuko's stomach lurched, since said slab of earth was what they were all standing on, sans Uncle, who was still unconscious and thus laying on the makeshift operation table and Li, who was sitting on said raised platform while he worked.

Win placed her hand on her sister's shoulder, looking straight ahead at the shrinking forms of Lin and Fluffy. It didn't take long for Zuko to realize she was guiding the earthbender, since she'd closed her eyes in concentration. Shaking his head, Zuko sat down as his mind reeled.

Unconventional indeed.


	7. And so the balance shifts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aang is confused.  
That's alright though, Zuko's not doing that much better. Not that he'll let anyone know that.

Aang couldn't actually remember going to get Appa and following the strange group, but waking up in the middle of said unfamiliar people told him he must have. Sokka, Katara, Toph and Appa were still sound asleep and Momo seemed to be pestering one of the non-benders for food. He'd never seen anyone but Princess Yue with such light hair. The sleep he'd gotten now had to have been good for him to not feel like death warmed over, even if he was still confused. Looking around he spotted Zuko and his uncle almost immediately. The old firebender was looking much better and was breathing way easier than before. Zuko was sitting vigil by his side, his back towards the airbender, not reacting when the people in the unfamiliar group walked behind him.

It was weird seeing Zuko like this. He acted way calmer than any other time they'd interacted- or, well... he was acting similarly to the time he'd been the Blue Spirit.

Aang wasn't sure what to think of that.

Sitting up, the young airbender realized he wasn't in his sleeping bag and had instead been sleeping on what had to be the unknown group's sleeping roll, under one of their blankets. It was nice and comfy, but it just made him a little more confused.

These people were really nice.

Maybe that's why Zuko was acting so different.

The waterbender with the weird hair went over to the two firebenders. Probably another healing session, the airbender mused as he silently rose from the ground and started to at least try and pack away the roll, pillow and blanket. He was almost immediately ushered to the campfire when they noticed he was awake and promptly given a bowl of soup by the probably cook who he thought was named Maru.

Looking at the brunette, the monk stuttered “Um- I- I don't eat meat.” because the soup was murky and he had no idea what was in it.

The man snorted and tapped the smaller of the two cauldrons as he spoke around the toothpick in his mouth “Don' worry, tha' one's veg'n, Jon an' Lin 'r' v'geterian too, though Jon's more flexibl' about it since 'e needs more food in gener'l.”

Aang had no idea who he meant, before connecting Lin with the woman who'd been on the ostrich-horse. Jon was probably the big man with the staff. Saying nothing else, the airbender started eating. He jerked when someone sat heavily not too far from him. Glancing in the direction of the newcomer, he was surprised to see it was Zuko, who wasn't paying the slightest attention to him and instead accepted his own portion from the bigger pot without any discomfort.

The discomfort came when Maru pointed at him sternly “An' ya bett'r eat it this time.”

The hunched shoulders and awkward glance away were easy enough to spot even as the firebender did as he was told without verbal complaint.

The 12-year-old observed the older teen for a moment, mostly done with his own meal “You're different than usual...”

Zuko froze at the sound of his voice, shoulders tense even as he lowered his bowl, the spoon resting against the bottom as he gripped it and the bowl tightly, silent.

“Yeah. I guess I would be.” he admitted at last, voice gravelly, not meeting the younger's eyes.

The airbender looked away after a while, stirring the remainder of his own meal, not sure what to say to the person who had been his enemy ever since they'd crossed paths.

He didn't know how to react to a silent Zuko. A Zuko that wasn't attacking him. It had been weird enough not seeing hide nor hair of him for so long, but this? No idea how to deal with it. As he finished his meal, he noticed Maru looking accusingly at Zuko, who'd also emptied his bowl. The older teen held the stare for an admirable five seconds before apparently crumbling and extending the aforementioned empty bow for a refill. Maru looked very smug and Aang noticed the red-haired healer did, too.

Apparently this was normal then.

Alright.

Still weird.

The young airbender was so distracted he didn't notice his own refill coming until it was too late. They continued to eat in silence until Zuko suddenly spoke up again “Not to be rude, since you still look like you could sleep an entire day, but can you wake up your... friends sometime soon? You're dragging lunch really late.”

Aang blinked at the older boy “What's that supposed to mean?”

Zuko didn't answer and instead stood up with his bowl, making his way towards what looked like a wash basin.

The cook snorted, shaking his head with a fond smile “Adults can deal, kids eat first. Lele's already eaten and Zuko's done with 'is meal, but you an' yer friends 'r' still left. Anyone under eighteen 's'a child an' thus has priority. Zuko's a good kid, 'e knows no one'll defy me on this, so 'e's tryin'a hurry ya up.”

The young airbender jerked when he finally understood what that meant and scrambled to wake the others up. They grumbled, but at least Sokka made a bee-line for the food. Aang looked over to where Zuko was shooed away from washing the dishes, probably because his bowl and spoon were the only things in the basin and it would be more efficient to wait until their bowls were in there too.

The twelve-year-old couldn't help but re-visit that night when Zuko, as the blue Spirit, had saved him.

_“If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends too?”_


	8. Dreaming jellyfish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iroh wakes up just as Zuko goes to sleep and makes a few wrong assumptions, it's ok though, he doesn't know how much his nephew has changed during their time apart.  
The General does approve of his (son's) nephew's new friends, though.

The Dragon of the West hovered at the edge of consciousness. He could tell that he was in a much better condition that he should have been after being hit with Azula's flames. He still felt injured, but it was not nearly as bad as it should have been. He was surprised his nephew had let the waterbending girl to heal him, because there was no other explanation to his condition that that.

He was surrounded by people, that much he could tell. The presence most often by his side was most likely his nephew. The warm energy left often enough that Iroh knew the boy was probably eating. The cool soothing energy of the waterbender returned from time to time, each time bringing more clarity and relief to the old General.

“Hey, kid, you need to sleep.” an unknown voice spoke through the darkness, making the warm presence of his nephew shift and shrink.

“...” the boy said nothing, his pride getting in the way, most likely.

A sigh, then “Come on, Lele can make you a cot beside him if you want, but you gotta sleep.”

His nephew shifted away from his spot, soon followed by the sound of earth rumbling. It seemed this 'Lele' must be one of the earthbenders who'd been in the abandoned town, fighting Azula. Iroh heard some more shuffling, most likely bedding being moved, before he felt his nephew's presence beside him once again.

There was a brief silence before someone sighed again and another warm presence moved next to his nephew “C'mon, kid, Li's a good healer, your uncle will wake up tomorrow.”

Zuko didn't answer the woman, causing her to sigh and, from the sound of it, run her fingers through his nephew's hair and take a deep breath before starting to sing.

“[Yurayura yurameku nami no ma ni](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8c_A_EeVsY)  
kirakira kagayaku koe wa tada yure kanata e to

yume miru kurage wa uta utau yo  
yasashii umibe de nemuru

yurayura yurameku hikari no tsubu  
kirakira kagayaki koe wa tada yure anata e to

donna toki demo kono uta hibiki watareba  
donna iro demo sunda sore ni tarete yuku yo

yurayura yurameku nami no ma ni  
kirakira kagayaku koe wa tada yure kanata e to

yume miru kurage wa uta kanade  
kirakira kagayaku koe wa tada yure anata e to”

Had his eyes been open, Iroh would have blinked at the effect the lullaby had on his nephew. Even before the last note, the boy was out like a light.

The woman huffed in fond amusement before she stood up “Think we should call him little jellyfish instead of little turtleduck?”

“Why?” another unknown voice inquired, before answering the the question himself, obviously having meant it as a rhetorical question “Because he's completely transparent and prickly?”

There was laughing from all around the camp, but none of it sounded malicious. 

His nephew had found good people. 

He was glad.

The old firebender opened his eyes to see the evening sky of a day that had already come to an end. Beside him, just as he expected, his nephew slept soundly on a raised slab of earth, under a warm-looking blanket and a pillow just as well-made. His own bedding was better than what he'd become used to and his back was grateful for it.

“You just missed him being awake.”

Iroh looked to the woman who'd sang his nephew to sleep, glancing to his nephew again before returning his gaze “He looks exhausted.”

The nark-haired woman smiled sadly “He's been worried, no matter how many times we try to tell him that Lee is good at what he does. Then again, him not being formally trained may be what has kept him from fully believing it, even though he's known us for a few months.”

Gray eyebrows rose in surprise “Months! I see. I must thank you for taking care of my nephew in my stead.”

The woman on mixed heritage smiled as she sat down by Zuko's side “Think nothing of it. We weren't gonna leave the kid alone, especially with him being a firebender in Earth Kingdom. Most people are not kind when they find out. The war brings out the worst in everyone.”

The old man sat up slowly, frowning thoughtfully “How did you know he was a firebender?” his nephew hadn't been that careless, had he?

The young woman was silent for a moment, before bringing her hands up and igniting them. Iroh's eyes widened in surprise. A waterbender _and_ a firebender in a group of earthbenders? He had not seen that coming.

They'd certainly made convincing earthbenders. The others had to be very good to have camouflaged the two in their midst.

The young firebender moved her hands over his nephew's body, the flames never touching the prone figure “I don't really understand how it works... but I could sense his inner flame.” she said, eyes flicking up to look the elder in the eye “I could feel yours too. I felt it waver for a while, but it's strong again. The kid wouldn't have understood and I don't like showing my hand around strangers, Avatar's group or not.” she indicated the big shadow to the side of the camp and the four smaller forms beside it.

“I see.” Iroh mused, stroking his beard.

He understood keeping ones cards close to ones chest. If no one else knew, they couldn't even accidentally tell ones enemies. He wondered what had happened for one so young to have developed such a strategy.

The young woman looked over her shoulder before saying “I'll see what I can find for you to eat, you've been unconscious for most of the day so you missed like... two entire meals and a couple tea-times.”

The old man chuckled as she shuffled away to do just that. Truly, his nephew had found good people.


	9. Lessons in fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko loves Win's firebending lessons. Because she never belittles him if he doesn't understand something and she makes him feel like he's _finally_ talented at it.
> 
> Little does Zuko realize, he's not the only one receiving a lesson this time. Whether Edwina knows or not, she's not telling.

Katara wasn't sure what to think of the red-haired healer. She wasn't sure if his ancestry came from the North Pole of the Foggy Swamp, though perhaps it was the former since only the North had been mentioned. The group he was with was very tight-knit, though it seemed that the fire bender was their leader. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, even though the woman had claimed to have never even set foot in the Fire Nation.

Well, at least they'd gotten a lot of sleep while with them. Yesterday they'd slept the entire day away, even though Aang had woken them up half-way so that they could eat. She didn't really remember much of the previous day. They'd slept the entire night and even though she still felt tired, it was much better than the horrible fatigue they'd been suffering through previously.

It was surprising that they'd been able to sleep so soundly in the midst of seven strangers and with _Zuko_, of all people, nearby. Then again, the angry teen was paying them little to no attention. Which was weird in itself, come to think about it.

But these people were weirder than Zuko's actions, if only by a little.

Or, so she thought, not knowing just how strange these people could become.

Zuko was sitting by his now awake uncle, feeling much calmer than he had the day before. He really should know better than to question Li's healing abilities, but... Uncle's life was much more precious than Zuko's. Now that he was visibly doing better, he could rest easy.

“Hey, kid.”

Both Zuko and Iroh turned to look at the female firebender who'd spoken.

She stood a few steps away, arms crossed but otherwise relaxed “I know my techniques are perhaps not that suited for a warrior and now that you're not hiding from us-” she cut off, looking unsure before sighing “Do you still wanna learn?”

Zuko's eyes widened as he scrambled up. Of course he wanted to learn! Her way of teaching was so different from his tutors that for the first time he felt like he was _actually good_ at firebending.

Win looked surprised before she chuckled “Alright, alright. I'm glad.” the woman smiled warmly, eyes flicking to the older man “Do you wish to follow along, General?”

The Dragon of the West smiled and stroked his beard “If it's not too much to ask.”

Win only smirked before turning towards the campfire, beckoning Zuko to follow “Any new questions?”

Zuko thought for a moment before speaking “Why do we always bend the campfire?”

Instead of looking at him as if he was an idiot, Win actually looked delighted “Excellent, you're learning to think outside the box already.”

Zuko fought not to blush, and failed.

Win turned to face him, bringing her hand up with her pointer finger extended upwards. She lit a small flame at its tip before speaking again “Ignition of ones own flame is the most difficult part of bending ones own flame. Once lit, the result is made primarily of ones own chi and secondarily of the emotion used to fuel it. The rest is air.” the woman let the flame die before sweeping the hand towards the fire beside her, extracting some of it and then proceeded to pass it from hand to hand, an exercise he'd been taught by her almost immediately after she'd started these lessons with him “Now, when bending external flame, however, you insert your chi into a flame that is burning independently of another bender. This makes it more difficult to control.” she explained, absently starting the motion of passing the flame to him.

Zuko accepted the flame, starting the exercise on his own. The flame wavered a little before stabilizing, as it always did, but not as much as it had in the beginning.

The older firebender smiled as she continued “I was pleasantly surprised at how adept you were at it, but considering your circumstances... not that surprising, I guess.”

Zuko knew what she meant.

“With your past, controlling external flames would have become a priority...” Win shook her head, focusing again “Lastly, the flames of another bender. These are the most difficult for an opposing bender to control, can you guess why?”

Zuko frowned in concentration, thinking it over “Because... the flames are already full of the other bender's chi?”

The proud, beaming smile was something he still hadn't grown used to “Exactly! Well _done_ Zuko.” his teacher exclaimed, before turning serious and surging forward, hand outsretched and Zuko found himself fighting to keep the flames in his grasp.

“Bending the flames of another bender is all about inserting your chi into the flame... _and fighting for dominance._” Win finished, voice, gaze and demeanor cold. She let go of the flames, which surged from the sudden shift of control, but Zuko was quick in bringing them to their previous size.

Win stepped forward and extended her hand, causing Zuko to extinguish the flames so that he wouldn't burn her “When battling another bender and disrupting their attack, all that matters is control, intensity, fuel and willpower.” she lectured, “Sometimes, the deciding factor is:” her index and middle fingers made contact with his chest, enhancing the words' impact.

“Just how strong is your will?”

Their surroundings were silent, everyone in camp following the lesson. The female firebender withdrew from Zuko's personal space with a sigh “That's why we bend the campfire. Because it's harder and a safer way to prepare you for another bender's flames.” she explained, before chuckling self-depricatingly “That, and... ignition is hard... when you're afraid of fire. You must've experienced that, after... well, after.”

Zuko touched his scar, nodding. It had taken him a while before he could bend after the Agni Kai against-

It had taken him a while.

Win rubbed her neck with a sigh “Even before your name got revealed, it was safe to assume you hadn't had the best experience with firebenders. But it's not safe for a firebender to be afraid of fire. Respect it and the dangers it poses? Yes. Fear it? ...No. So I thought that controlling external flames would be beneficial if you were in that situation ever again.”

Zuko was... touched. And also insulted that he received better care from _strangers_ than he had from his remaining immediate family. Uncle was great, but even he had been a little distant. Much of that had been Zuko's fault too, but still.

It was ironic how the firebenders in his life had all been so cold.

Even Win could go cold if she truly wanted.

That was when she was at her scariest.

Shaking his head, Zuko grabbed some more flames from the campfire, knowing theory was pretty much over. Win believed in doing over telling, which was fine with him because he learned better by trying, failing and then trying again. It was frustrating, but Win didn't mind his occasional temper tantrums, since she too struggled with her temper and she believed in venting in a safe environment so that it didn't bottle up and then erupt when unsafe.

His teacher smiled and followed his example, causing Zuko to feel a tinge of pride “Have you ever seen ribbon dancing?”

Zuko thought about it and then nodded. He'd seen it once, while in the palace. It had been interesting to see, but he hadn't had the opportunity to see it since.

Win smirked “This next exercise is based on that.” she explained, splitting the flame between her hands and moving them to the tip of her pointer and middle fingers. Then she _twirled._

The two flames elongated and formed long trails that resembled ribbons. It was showy, it was elegant-

and it was potentially _deadly._

Win extinguished the flame ribbons and turned to him “Start with just one hand and try to create the ribbon. Also, perhaps don't move quite so much as I just did, so that you don't accidentally hit someone, yourself included. It takes a while to be able to anticipate how the flame will move during momentum, but eventually you'll be able to do what I just did.”

As Zuko started on the exercise, the old General watched like a hawk, thoughtfully stroking his beard.

He knew that the group were showmen and as such all bending was most likely geared towards that, but the sheer understanding of their element this woman had-

it was astounding, to say the least. He had a hard time believing she was entirely self-taught. He was also not deceived by the entertainment-oriented style of bending.

Even fans could be used as weapons, after all.

But his nephew's excitement, the woman's comments and _praise_... Iroh was ashamed to say he was surprised by it. Exactly when had he stagnated? How had he not noticed Zuko's preferred learning style? When had he fell down the trap of comparing his nephew to other benders?

He should have known better, he really should have.

He may have created lightning re-direction, but he had still held fast to the iron-clad katas that were taught in the army, taught by the Royal Tutors.

When had he lost the ability to question his abilities?

Aang looked at the lesson taking place with wide eyes. It was so different to his first attempt at firebending and yet it explained the result of it in a way Jeong Jeong had failed. Jeong Jeong was so negative towards fire that it had tainted his explanations and view of his bending.

_“...it's not safe for a firebender to be afraid of fire. Respect it and the dangers it poses? Yes. Fear it?”_

No.

A firebender that fears fire cannot control the flame.

A firebender that _hates fire_... cannot teach.

Curling his arms around his knees, Aang watched as Zuko lengthened the flame enough to resemble a very short ribbon, extreme concentration written across his entire body, and wondered.

_I wonder if she'd teach me, too..._

Toph wasn't as interested, since she couldn't actually see the fire being bent, but the stances being taken by the two benders were kind of interesting. It was also interesting to hear someone with such a deep understanding of their own element. She herself had learned on her own, and knew a lot more about earthbending than other benders. She could respect the hard work the firebender woman had put in, if nothing else.

Sokka was torn between exasperation at bending being talked about philosophically and being impressed. It would probably be even cooler if it wasn't _fire_ that was being talked about.

Katara, meanwhile, was staring in horror as she realized that _these people had just gotten even weirder._


	10. Willpower and shame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko finds out what Win has probably been trying to achieve ever since she started teaching him.  
(Also, author's theories on bending.)

Despite the forced breaks, Zuko managed to create a long and thin enough flame to try and move it like a ribbon. He wasn't trying any unnecessarily complicated tricks, knowing it could get out of hand very easily. Control was something he was very good at, even if it didn't appear so to others. But never once had he accidentally hurt anyone. That was something Zuko could be proud of, especially since it was something that Win praised him for. His Uncle took it as a given that he knows this. Zuko's patience was a very much _learned_ skill. A painstakingly learned skill and something Win commended him for. It wasn't something he was _expected to have_. Not among the troupe. He loved it.

He also noticed that Lele seemed to have come up with a new training exercise for herself. She'd gotten sand from somewhere and was moving all of the tiny particles at once, trying to mimic water flowing.

Neat. So this was what it was like to bend without forms. You had to come up with everything yourself. Trial and error. Trying to make sense of the world and your place in it. Was this what truly made a master of an element? He'd heard people be named a Master Bender, but- well... those “Master Benders” didn't seem to _actually_ understand their element, they were just powerful. Even the Father Lord-

…

The Fire Lord was called a Master of Fire... but he saw it as an all-consuming flame. It had to destroy, it had no other purpose.

Win had proven that philosophy to be false. She had taught him much, and yet he felt like he'd only scratched the surface. And he was right. Though perhaps not in the way he'd expected.

It was a discussion sparked by Lele's new training exercise. But it wasn't either of the sisters that elaborated on it. The Avatar brought it up during the evening meal around the fire.

“Y'know, that sandbending almost looked like waterbending. I didn't think bending styles could cross over like that.” the child piped up, eyes shining with curiosity.

Li was the one to answer “Well, spiritual awareness isn't really a sought after skill anymore, but I'm surprised you didn't know that. Weren't Airbenders really spiritual?”

Aang shrugged “The Southern Air Temple was pretty isolated, so I didn't really know a lot about other bending styles, so it never came up, and then...”

And then he vanished. And then there were no Air Nomads to ask about it anymore...

Zuko was getting depressed every time he thought about the Avatar's situation, so he tried not to.

Li nodded “I see. Well. All people have Chakras. Through Chakras flow chi. Chi is used to bend. The better the flow, the better your bending, supposedly. Chakras can become blocked, and usually are, so most of your chakra goes to your primary element, at least if you're a bender. People with a large chi-pool are benders. The bigger the chi-pool, the stronger the bending, again, supposedly. As Avatar, your chi is recycled and grows with every reincarnation, so if you were to unlock your full potential by unblocking all chakras, you'd be very very powerful.” The waterbender lectured “Of course, power is nothing without skill, so don't get cocky. Anyway, if a _normal_ bender unlocks all their elemental chakras, their bending will widen too. For example, if an earthbender unblocks their fire chakra and a firebender unblock their earth chakra, both will be able to bend magma, like Avatar Roku of old.” the red-haired man continued “Or, if, say, a waterbender unblocks their air and fire chakras, then changing the water's temperature becomes a _whole_ lot easier. Besides,” the man shrugged “your primary element chakra can become blocked too. So just unlocking _that_ makes bending a lot easier. There's a proper way for the entire process, too, but I haven't found any reliable sources for all of them. Actually, I might have the element ones written down somewhere now that I think about it... And then there's the metaphysical ones which probably wouldn't hurt, but aren't of any true practical use for anyone but the Avatar or someone searching for spiritual enlightenment.”

Uncle looked interested, but not completely shocked. He must've had some inclination, then.

But- could this be- could this be why? Could it be that his bending had been so- so atrocious when he was a child because of an imbalance in the flow of his chi?

He- maybe-

“How do you unblock the Fire chakra?” the banished prince found himself asking.

Everyone turned to look at him, causing him to shrink in on himself. He didn't back down, though. He wanted to know.

Li wasn't the one who answered.

Win sighed and extracted a ball of flame from the campfire “The Fire Chakra,” she intoned, tossing the ball between her hands “deals with willpower,” she shot the flame at him as she paused, watching him catch it with relative ease “and is blocked by _shame_.”

The fire in his hands and the fire in the middle of the camp flared up at that. Zuko felt he couldn't breathe.

_That explained so much!_

Azula felt no shame, had never had reason to, but Zuko-

Zuko had _always_ felt ashamed of just _existing_. It was no wonder... It really was no wonder his bending seemed to worsen as he aged, until...

Until Win started to instruct him. Slowly, patiently, _kindly_.

She gave him no reason to ever feel ashamed of not knowing, not being able to do the exercise, _just. Not. Getting. It._ And he got better. The practice helped, the exercises helped, he was certain, but-

Perhaps he had also unknowingly unblocked his Fire Chakra. Though, it sounded like that's what 'Win had been trying to achieve with him all along.

The banished prince smiled as he shaped the flame into a dragon. It was only roughly the right shape, more of a snake with lumps, really, but it was more than he'd managed before. There was no shame in not getting it right the first couple dozen times, so long as you never stopped trying.

He believed that, now.

There was no shame in trying, trying, and trying again. So long as you actually tried.

He _knew_ that, now.

**Author's Note:**

> Names  
Edwina=Win  
Alexia=Lele  
Lisa=Lin  
Jim=Jee  
Leo=Li  
Jonas=Jon  
Marcus=Maru
> 
> Edwina - fire  
Alexia - earth  
Jonas - air  
Leo - water  
Everyone else - nonbenders
> 
> Ages  
Edwina 21  
Alexia 16  
Lisa 20  
Jim 24  
Jonas 29  
Leo 25  
Marcus 23
> 
> Artwork of everyone:  
[Ed](https://66.media.tumblr.com/eaf95c29182c96acbcdafeb3e4ab4caa/19a0797b3474bdc5-e7/s1280x1920/6f73c288055088e51e522b7f8f675179c75863b9.jpg)  
[Al](https://66.media.tumblr.com/6129dd5060bb79e16be2469d72ea6a15/19a0797b3474bdc5-77/s1280x1920/e8155961c42e99583561f541cd2cc0335e86a8b7.jpg)  
[Jonas](https://66.media.tumblr.com/98ed5fabb373d203ac54477241864618/19a0797b3474bdc5-f8/s1280x1920/66bca47ff99643f9a4c67add24ca21de0d6f2000.jpg)  
[Marcus and Leo](https://66.media.tumblr.com/7098ae423df46966b0061998e823d947/19a0797b3474bdc5-32/s1280x1920/33b9771c2861bd9e077b5fe7055314a5dda6f300.jpg)  
[Jim and Lisa](https://66.media.tumblr.com/0538573371440e5339af60c445eb61ac/19a0797b3474bdc5-10/s1280x1920/206cedad50200435b93a70e5b972dcf8d69efcdb.jpg)  
[Edwina's Fire Ribbon Exercise](https://66.media.tumblr.com/10cdc5a9f1481763df13bfc6340ffac6/33c8a915c8dd26d9-70/s640x960/0a9773cc494f5316da423527cf94f7bbef220bff.jpg)
> 
> I don't have a problem with authority. What I do have a problem with is people who assume they have authority over me just because they read one of my fics and demand/beg/order me to update. Guess what? That's the reason I don't update. As soon as someone who has read my fic, which I do for free, for no compensation, assumes they have the power to command me to do my bidding, my brain goes "Hell no. Oh, you think you can order me around, well, now I WON'T update, see how you like that!"  
It's a problem on both ends. If you don't mean to sound demanding when you ask for updates, consider maybe using more passive language. I, myself, just type out "I can't wait for what happens next!"  
No demands. No obligations. Just telling the author you liked it and would like for them to update... without sounding like a demanding ass.  
I know most people don't mean it like that. But text doesn't have tone, so that's what it comes across as.  
Also, if I haven't made an announcement about a fic, then it hasn't been abandoned. I LABLE MY ABANDONED FICS. Guess what you can't find on my AO3 account? FIcs labeled as abandoned. I just have severe writer's block because people keep demanding updates and asking whether or not I've abandoned it instead of, you know... constructive criticism or just emoji hearts. I'll take emoji hearts over those kinds of redundant comments ANY DAY. Plus they don't make me react badly unlike some comments.  
So there. Don't tell me to update. You've been told. You've been warned. Now stop it.


End file.
